New Zealand, Alliance.

Thames Star, Volume XI, Issue 3699, 2 November 1880, Page 2

New Zealand, Alliance.

*' There was a fair attendance at the initiatory meeting of the Thames branch of the Alliance for the suppression of the liquor traffic, in the Temperance Hall, Eolleston street, last even ing. Mr Speight occupied the Chair, and introduced the subject of the evening—"The New Zealand Alliance/ He said one of the other speakers would tell them more about the subject than he could, and he would call' upon Mr Brame, of Auckland, to. address them.

Mr Brame then came forward and said he had great pleasure in being present at the first meeting of a New Zealand Alliance on the Thames. The principal cause of the passing of the Permissive • Bill was the two petitions from the Thames—one signed by 2000 Europeans, and the other by 1000 natives, which was a thing to be proud of v He well remembered the starting of the Allianoe in Manchester, and the timidity with which the half dozen promoters took the first step. At the very outset they met with great opposition where they least expected it—from the allied temperance societies of England and Scotland, which for a long time threatened to overcome them, but they out-lived it. Not long after Mr Wilfred Lawson joined the cause, and was a faithful adherent. He brought a bill before Parliament to allow twothirds of the population of any place to deoree whether a license should be issued to a public-house in that place or not. Several times the bill was brought before the House, but it was rejected by a large majority. The promoters, however, 4id not despair, but made an appeal to their friends for funds to carry on the enter* prise, and in Jess than three months over £53,000 was received by the treasurer. He well remembered Mr Lundon's speech in the New Zealand House on the Permissive Bill when he gave an account of a visit to the city of Maine, where he could not find a single house in which to purchase spirituous liquors. After the success met with by the movement in Canada, New Zealand colonists should not despair. Several attempts had been made to get a Permissive Bill passed in others parts of the colony, but the one started at the Thames was the only successful one. Not very long ago an Alliance was started in Auckland, and it was going on. He then gave an account of the plan of working the Auckland Alliance, and concluded by saying he felt sure a society of that kind would be successful at the Thames if properly managed. The Chairman then introduced the Bey. S. Edgar, who, he said, was an able exponent of temperance. The Bey. S. Edgar said he had to point out that though the Alliance was a political movement, many people could not see it. According to some people it was an unpatrotic thing to be an abstainer, but he did not think so. To get such people to change their opinions they had either to persuade them of their error, or get the law on their side. A country was never in a worse state than when its laws did not agree with the consciences of the people. In his opinion a majority should not rule a minority unless it carried with it the support of the consciences of the people. The right use of law was to back up public opinion. He thought the time had come when public opinion pointed out that the liquor trade was bad. The law would punish a man fof tempting another to commit crine, but the publican got off free, when he was really guilty of crime. If the publican could, show that his business Would prosper, without drunkenness, he would give up his point. Statistics showed that in England people drank about five or six times as much as medical evidence proved was good for them. This showed plainly that the publican's profits arose from drunkennesi. Cardinal Manning had once*aid that he would rather keep a house of ill-fame than a public house, and that bore out his theory. Many leading members of the English Parliament, and among them Mr Gladstone, denounced the drink traffic, though not themselves abstainers, and were forced to admit that a great deal of crime arose from it.

Mr Newman, chairman pro fern, of the Auckland Alliance, Bald that as inch brilliant speakers had proceeded him, they could not expect much of; him. He was not so sanguine as Mr Braine of the success of the undertaking, and . believed it would take years to firmly establish the institution. 'It was " a general opinion; that when a publican had his license prohibited, he should receive compensation, but he did not think so, and even if they had any claim he would ask where was the money to come from. He upheld the late action of the Thames Licensing Bench, and hoped other benches would follow their eksmple. He thought there was blame attached to both I the man who drank, and the publican who supplied the liquor, but the cause in the first place lay with the Licensing Bench for granting ,so many, licenses. They should try to keep the young from drinking, as if ' a child was kept abstemious till it was twenty years of age, he very seldom took to drink afterwards. The speaker then instanced the success of the movement in North Western Canada. ' Statistics showed that in New Zealand on an average every person spent about £5 per annum on strong drink. If this money could be brought over to the other side he felt sure there would be no questions ot who would succeed. It was estimated that drink caused the death of about 50,000 persons every year. . The Chairman said that during the last nine years New Zealand had borrowed about £27,000,000, but in the same period the people of the'colony had consumei strong drink to the ralue of £3,000,000 more than that snm. Votes of thanks were then passed to the speakers and the Chairman, and the meeting dispersed.